NOVEL NEXT Chapter 162
Chapter 162
“Ugh.”
Max strained with all his might to stand up, but his legs wouldn’t listen.
In the meantime, Si-hyun had already approached close.
A fist, clenched so tight that the veins were bulging, flew towards Max’s face.
Until now, Max had been extending his fists with no concern for the punches he received, but this time he desperately reached out to block.
However, Si-hyun’s fist was faster.
Thwack!
With a resounding impact, the fist struck Max squarely in the face.
His body stumbled back once more.
With the momentum on his side, Si-hyun kept throwing left and right punches at Max.
Bam! Thwack!
A series of powerful punches connected with Max’s face, twisting his head sideways.
Boom!
As the accumulated shock reached its limit, Max’s body finally fell backward.
Si-hyun jumped on top of Max’s giant frame.
“Ugh!”
Max squeezed every ounce of strength he had left to shake off Si-hyun, but it was useless.
Si-hyun braced himself with his legs and then unleashed a barrage of punches.
Max swung his arms, trying to resist, but he was no match for Si-hyun’s relentless assault.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The fierce pounding continued to crash against Max’s face.
“Ugh! This is infuriating!”
Despite the pain, Max couldn’t help but scream, on the verge of losing his mind.
He hadn’t forgotten for a moment the revenge he sought against Po-ahim since he was in that other world.
His hatred and grudge were etched deep into his bones, and every day he sharpened his resolve, imagining that moment.
Today, at long last, the chance for revenge arrived.
But instead…
Instead of unleashing that insane vendetta, he found himself on the receiving end of a beatdown!
He felt like he might explode from pent-up anger right then and there.
“Ahhh! Aaaaaah!”
Max yelled, as if on the brink of losing his mind.
His bloodshot eyes leaked tears of blood, the veins popping as he screamed.
With his already beaten face drenched in blood, he looked utterly ghastly.
“Look who’s flailing.”
Si-hyun smirked without blinking, a cold smile playing on his lips.
He understood the psychology of such people well. Those who kill or torment others without a second thought can’t handle it when the tables are turned.
And these kinds of people needed a real lesson.
Si-hyun began to slap Max’s cheek instead of punching him.
Though much weaker than a fist, the psychological blow was incomparable.
With his eyes wide open, enduring such a humiliating attack was worse than simply dying.
“Why are you making a fuss about escaping? An inmate should just be sleeping quietly in their cell.”
Si-hyun kept tapping Max’s cheek while he spoke.
Smack! Smack!
“Ughhhh…”
Max’s already swollen face, which was a mess from the beating, now turned crimson as if it might ignite.
He looked like a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any moment.
“Ugh… cough… hack….”
In his agony, Max finally heaved and spilled blood.
The sheer rage had twisted his insides.
The blood surged from his throat and splattered onto Si-hyun’s face.
Si-hyun wrinkled his nose and wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve.
It seemed that the tough love was actually having an effect. Max, now severely injured, was left groaning, utterly drained.
“Alright, let’s finish this.”
Si-hyun’s fists tightened, sensing it was time to wrap things up.
From the looks of it, he wouldn’t last much longer.
“Here we go.”
Si-hyun started to hit Max in the face with punches.
Thwack! Thwack! Bam!
As he landed three precision strikes, Max’s body lost all strength, and his eyes rolled back.
He had fainted.
Si-hyun, still on top of Max, slowly got up.
“Haah….”
After catching his breath from the brawl with Max, he shifted his gaze toward Arthur and Miriam.
“Well, this is something….”
Arthur clicked his tongue.
He continued, “It seems we can’t take that crazy guy away today.”
Originally, they had planned to take him today.
But with him completely battered and passed out, he would need to be admitted to the hospital first.
“Um….”
Miriam wore a perplexed expression.
She hadn’t anticipated such a turn of events either.
After a moment’s thought, she bit her lip and walked over to Si-hyun.
“Here….”
Then she pulled out a blue handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to him.
“…Ah, thank you.”
Si-hyun awkwardly accepted the handkerchief.
He hesitated for a moment but decided to just wipe the blood from his face.
The once pristine handkerchief quickly became drenched in red.
Seeing the grimy state of it, Si-hyun scratched his cheek and spoke.
“I’ll wash it and return it.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“No, I should be the one thanking you.”
“No, no… I’m the one who should be….”
“What do you mean by that….”
An awkward atmosphere settled between Si-hyun and Miriam.
Perhaps uncomfortable with this vibe, Arthur blurted out.
“What are you doing acting all uncharacteristic right now?”
“…Uncharacteristic?”
“Don’t act like a demure lady, you cool-blooded knight.”
“What? Cool-blooded…? Who’s cool-blooded?”
Miriam exclaimed with wide eyes, clearly taken aback.
Arthur looked astounded.
“Excuse me? Have you forgotten? How many of my knights you killed over there?”
“Oh my, oh my. What are you talking about? Lord, I’m really not cool-blooded. In war, everyone kills each other….”
“Good grief.”
Seeing her reaction, Arthur shook his head in disbelief.
“Well… anyway, great display of a lowly fight, Po-ahim.”
He addressed Si-hyun this time.
“Lowly? That was a splendid match.”
Miriam interjected, as if wondering what nonsense he was spouting.
“…I can’t even respond to that; it’s beyond me.”
Arthur muttered with a face full of disbelief, while Si-hyun looked equally bemused.
As expected, she was indeed very friendly toward Po-ahim. And she was still siding with him.
But something about it…
That uncomfortable feeling lingered…
“Ahem.”
Si-hyun cleared his throat to regain his composure.
It wasn’t over yet.
This complicated situation had not yet reached its conclusion.
He scrutinized Miriam and Arthur before speaking.
“We need to talk about what just happened.”
“What about?”
Arthur asked with a smile.
“I want to know exactly what you’re trying to pull here.”
Si-hyun pointed at the ramshackle cell door, which lay in tatters.
“This is classified information.”
Arthur replied without hesitation.
“Is that one line supposed to settle everything?”
“Well, yes.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Si-hyun’s voice rose.
Even in front of an S-Class Awakened Being, he didn’t back down one bit.
His anger was real, not just bravado.
Seeing the Chinese government blatantly using a human butcher was already mind-boggling.
But now the so-called police state of the world, the U.S., was doing the same?
It was absolutely ridiculous.
“What’s the deal? Is that country refusing to transport him?”
Arthur replied coolly.
“Transport? Which country does that kind of transport? Are you even making sense?”
As the mood soured, Miriam interjected.
“Calm down, Lord.”
“….”
“I can fully understand how you must feel. You witnessed a prisoner trying to escape, so naturally, you’re feeling upset. But we have our own circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
As Miriam spoke up, Si-hyun lowered his voice slightly.
“That’s….”
“No, what are you trying to say? Po-ahim or whoever, this person is an outsider, an outsider.”
Arthur cut off Miriam’s words.
“I’m saying this because it’s my choice, so stop interrupting.”
Miriam shot back, sounding exasperated.
“Ha, come on… does that guy think he’s some sort of pillar of support?”
Just as Arthur muttered, shocked, a chilling aura suddenly surrounded him.
Miriam glared sharply at him with narrowed, piercing eyes.
“…There are things that are appropriate to say and things that aren’t.”
‘This is scary.’
Si-hyun thought.
It hadn’t hit him before, but now that she was serious and angry, the pressure coming off her was no joke.
It felt as if the air around them had frozen.
“Well, I’ll take that back.”
Arthur, who had been trying to maintain a polite smile under her ice-cold gaze, raised his hands, as if capitulating.
He followed it up with, “Still, I firmly believe it’s wrong to blab internal secrets to outsiders.”
“…You’ve heard about the Abnormal Gate, right?”
“No, are you even listening to me?”
As Miriam continued to speak to Si-hyun without a care in the world, Arthur’s expression turned to sheer disbelief.
If it weren’t for that Death Bow Miriam, he would have probably already slapped her like he did Roland earlier and told her to shut up.
But she was a being beyond comparison.
Even the Little King Arthur couldn’t forcibly silence her.
“Wait, is that guy truly Po-ahim? Just because a crazy man said he is doesn’t make it true, right?”
Arthur threw a different challenge.
“Yes, Lord. Would I not recognize you?”
“You didn’t before.”
“….”
Miriam averted her gaze, and Si-hyun began to pull out solid proof.
Po-ahim’s Guard Baton.
Not just one, but he pulled out a total of four from the Normal Guard Baton to the Unique Guard Baton and threw them on the ground one by one.
And, as if that wasn’t enough, he also tossed down Po-ahim’s Restraint Rope.
“…It really is him.”
Ultimately, Arthur couldn’t help but mumble that.
“What did I tell you? He’s the Lord.”
A glance back at Miriam showed her quickly returning her focus.
“I would like to continue the discussion.”
Si-hyun said.
Arthur, now seeming resigned to whatever would happen, let out a click of his tongue and held back from butting in like before.
“Yes.”
Miriam nodded.
“You asked if I had heard about the Abnormal Gate, right?”
“Yes, specifically the first Abnormal Gate.”
“The first one is… Ganghwa Island?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If it’s about the Abnormal Gate that happened on Ganghwa Island… I have heard about it as much as anyone else.”
Si-hyun said, his expression strange.
Since he had personally experienced that event, he knew better than anyone what had happened, but he planned to keep that information to himself for now.
“Do you know that a king emerged there?”
At Miriam’s question, Si-hyun glanced at Arthur’s face.
“Not that king.”
“What do you mean, that king! I am the real king here!”
Arthur muttered, frustrated.
“…I’ve never heard of that before.”
Si-hyun responded, pretending to be clueless.
“A king first appeared there. The King of the Demon Realm.”